Tuscarawas News Detail

Kent State College of Public Health Begins Accreditation Process

Posted Nov. 27, 2012

The Council of Education for Public Health has approved Kent State University’s College of Public Health to begin its accreditation process.

“Being approved means that the college has met all the council’s standards,” said Sonia Alemagno, dean of Kent State’s College of Public Health. “It means we have achieved the base set of resources in terms of faculty, academic degrees and infrastructure, as an independent school.”

Alemagno explained that the Council of Education for Public Heath requires resources to be in place before the school can apply for accreditation.

The accreditation process activities will take approximately two years. The next step is to attend an accreditation orientation workshop and conduct a one-year, in-depth self-study. Then, a three-day, on-site visit by a team of four peer reviewers will follow to confirm the validity of the self-study document and form the basis for the accreditation decision.

Becoming accredited offers many benefits for students, faculty and the college, according to Alemagno.

"First, it will draw students internationally because students and employers value degrees from accredited schools,” Alemagno said. “The accreditation also tells the world we have achieved a level of academic coursework at the highest level."

Alemagno said that accreditation will make the college more sought after off-campus as well.

“It will help with being competitive for research funding, but also community organizations will seek us out and be more willing to collaborate with us,” Alemagno said.

By virtue of accreditation-process acceptance, Kent State was welcomed as a new associate member school in the Association of Schools of Public Health, the national organization representing accredited schools of public health. There are 50 member schools and eight with associate status like Kent State.

“Once you are accredited, you become a member school,” Alemagno explained. “Because we were accepted into the accreditation process, we were offered associate membership.”